Loving bite?

[Isabel]

I recently got a young rabbit (~9 weeks) about a week ago and have been trying to earn his trust. He’s not super keen on being pet just yet, but I try to sit on the floor with him for a few hours a day to build a bond. There’s been noticeable improvement– so happy!

 

Anyway, he’s very skittish and curious. Usually when you go to pet him he’s just confused and hops off without any real reaction. However, when he’s tired, he’ll melt into you if you hit the right spot. He was dozing off on my lap as I brushed his back and he started licking me. He kept licking me even after I stopped and rested his head on my thumb.

 

Then all of a sudden I felt pressue on my thumbnail, and realized he was biting me! At least, he was trying. I have sizeable thumbnails, so he didn’t get my actual finger. But it was definitely a bite.

 

So I’m just kind of confused. Did he want me to keep petting him, did I scare him, or something else? I thought we were really getting somewhere in terms of affection, and the bite was totally out of nowhere.

 

Does anyone have any advice or insight? I’m a new rabbit owner, so this is all pretty new to me. Thanks!

[Sam and Lady's Human]

They communicate often through their bites, you have to try to decipher which is the intent. They can break the skin if they want, but they also will “check” you if you are doing something they dislike, and likewise try to groom you if you are doing something they do like either way, a whistle or high pitch yelp will let bun know it hurt.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Baby bunnies are just like baby humans. They put everything in their mouths. I’m quite sure he wasn’t trying to hurt you.

[Isabel]

That’s a really good point! I think I was just really taken aback at the tine. He was probably just exploring. He’s been nipping my big toe a little today (not hard at all) and I think it’s just because he’s curious. He’s been doing binkies in between the nips, so odds are he’s simply over excited lol. Such a funny guy.

[Stickerbunny]

Powder even at his older age of 5 will walk up and nip my toes, the stinker. As long as he isn’t breaking the skin or bruising, he isn’t mad. The worst was the “hey, human, you’re in my way” bite he gave me and I had a large purple bruise on the top of my foot from it! They can’t talk, so they communicate to us via nipping/thumping/foot flicking and other bunny language.

[BbsBunny]

My baby bunny likes to like fingers and toes (and anything else she can), and will nibble once on toenails or fingernails. I’m sure it’s just to investigate!

[FooFoosMommy2]

Foo nibbles us sometimes when she’s grooming us or we’re playing, we tend to interpret it as love nips because it’s never hard and it’s always during an activity she enjoys.

[Isabel]

Hi guys– thanks for all the input!

He’s been doing the gentle nips quite a bit now. They don’t hurt at all, so I’m not particularly concerned about them, but I’m wondering what I should do about them. Will they later develop to nastier bites that I should be concerned about? Should I just write this off as being a baby and leave it alone, or should I give him gentle reminders that it’s not okay to nip?

I’m just not sure if I should reprimand him or not. I don’t mind them, but I don’t want him thinking it’s okay to bite.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I would just say “No” in a bit of a high-voice and remove your finger. As he hits hormone age, he may get more aggressive so I’d try to gently deter the behavior now.

[TrioAGI]

Some bunnies nip in addition to, or even in place of, licking. My bunny Alfie isn’t big on licking or showing a lot of affection, but sometimes he gives me a little love-bite when a cuddling session is particularly nice. He also nips my other bunny, Gorie, to get her to run around and play. She clearly isn’t annoyed or scared by it, and in fact sometimes binkies.

You can really tell the difference between a nip and a bite, and this really seems like a nip. Bunnies will nip for different reasons, maybe to say “get out of my way” or “don’t do that”, or “hey, pay attention to me!”… but some of them just do it as a way of showing affection.

If it does seem like an annoyed reaction, I would try to curb it because it might get worse when he matures. But then when you spay him, it’ll probably get a little better afterward.

I hope it doesn’t hurt because your bunny might be doing it all his life!

[Elrohwen]

Baby bunnies tend to test things out with their mouths and can nip a little. I would make a high pitched yelp, then walk away from the area to show him that biting you ends his social time.

My Otto nipped at my knees all the time when he was a baby. He grew out of it, and I used the technique I described above, and he has never bitten as an adult, even when annoyed with me.

[Isabel]

Thanks for all the advice! The nips definitely don’t hurt, and are really just an adorable quirk that I’ve grown to love about my bun. It’s very spunky. He seems to do it when he wants to communicate something to me. It is definitely non invasive. It actually reminds me of the kisses my African Grey Parrots gives me– it seems like he’s biting, but he’s just gently brushing his beak against my skin.

I’ll start doing the high pitched yelp just to make sure the nips don’t develop into skin breaking bites.

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